Esfahan: Foolad Mahan Sepahan coach Hossein Afzali was pleased his side produced the level of performance he is expecting from them as the Iranians eased to a 12-1 win over Uzbeks Stroitel Zarafshan at Pirouzi Stadium on Monday to cement their place in the last four of the AFC Futsal Club Championship.
Vahid Shamsaee again displayed why he is the world's most lethal futsal player with six goals to takes his tally up to 10 for the tournament.
Having conceded an early goal against AUB Altyn Tash Bishkek in their opening group game before battling back for victory, Foolad were always in command against Stroitel - much to the delight of Afzali.
“The opening game of any tournament is always very difficult,” he said. “We did not know anything about AUB and I confess the players were very bad in the first half.
“But this was a good game. We had already analysed the playing style of Stroitel so we had a good knowledge of how they played.
“We were a little worried that the players would underestimate them but fortunately they didn't and if we took our chances we could have scored more.”
The victory outlined Foolad's credentials as one of the favourites to become the historic first winner of the tournament but Afzali refused to build up his side's chances of claiming the silverware.
“I don't believe we are the winners of the tournament, we have to wait until the very end,” he added.
“The level of all the teams in this tournament is very high and we should wait until the final before saying who should be winners.
Stroitel coach Anvar Mamedov conceded it w as men against boys as his side's hopes of keeping themselves in the hunt for a top-two finish were ended in emphatic fashion.
“Congratulations to Foolad Mahan for their win,” he said.
“For our young players it was very difficult to play against players such as Shamsaee, who has a lot of experience with the Iran national team.
“The spectators also influenced our players as for some of our young players it is the first time they have played in front of such a crowd.”
AFC Link
